REVIEW: 'Poker Face' Season 2 Episode 4 Is A Messy But Entertaining Animal Rights Mystery

In its fourth episode of season two, Poker Face re-enters satirical territory with The Taste of Human Blood, a title as gruesome as the antics that follow. Written by Wyatt Cain and directed by horror's Lucky McKee, this week's instalment sees cop procedural parody meet animal rights activism and Charlie Cale’s signature crime-solving detection into a strange but entertaining hour of television.

The episode revolves around Officer Joe (Kumail Nanjiani), who is being honoured as ‘Officer of the Year’ at a police awards ceremony for rescuing a baby alligator named Daisy from a meth dealer. On paper, Joe’s a hero. In practice, he’s a smug TikTok cop with the look of Joe Exotic who films his peers’ upset for social media clout using his glasses-cam, a revelation that becomes key to the episode’s twist.

Enter Fran (Gaby Hoffmann), a fellow officer. In flashbacks, we see her unbothered by the attention Joe receives. You get the feeling she finds the ceremony a tedious affair, as the reward that comes with the role of a police officer is supposedly justice. Six years later, she’s bitter, jealous, and quietly plotting. Her bright idea is to spike Joe’s branded power juice with reptile laxatives in hopes of humiliating him at the awards.

Naturally, things escalate quickly. Fran makes glaring mistakes (that bear no relevancy to the plot in true Poker Face fashion) as she handles the bottle of laxatives without gloves when she settles on her plan. Later in the episode, she remembers to use them but throws them into a bin in Joe’s room. The wannabe Charlie Cale inside me was screaming, “What are you doing?”

When Joe rushes to the toilet, where he soon collapses and dies, Fran listens from outside the cubicle. It's an uncomfortably silly scene, toeing the line between dark comedy and adolescent humour that won’t work for everyone, as it didn’t for me. The real question is: why would Fran think this would work? Even if it went to plan, it would never erase Joe’s long list of commendations and internet popularity.

© Peacock

Meanwhile, Charlie has joined a group of animal liberation activists intent on freeing Daisy. Disguised as a catering crew at the cop convention, the group uses Charlie, a new face to Joe, as their inside operator. She reports from his room, but things go awry when Fran bursts in following her upset regarding losing out on the ‘Officer of the Year’ award yet again. “It’s turning me into someone I’m not,” she says, a line that, paired with her increasingly sloppy execution, makes you wonder how she was ever considered award-worthy in the first place. You just know that Charlie, ever the BS detector, will soon start putting the pieces together.

Oreos, Daisy’s favourite snack, are used as bait, but again, Fran leaves fingerprints all over the wrapper (much like the gloves, this bears no relevancy to the plot. It’s not Charlie’s style). The officer lures her into the bathroom where Joe’s body remains, drugging the alligator with meth found at the convention, which leads Daisy to promptly devour him. The cover-up begins, but it’s too late.

The confrontation that follows is what makes Poker Face so entertaining. Officers and the activist group alike label Daisy “a killer of men,” to which Charlie replies “bullshit.” In a frantic push to save Daisy, she escapes with Fran and the alligator, who rests in the back of the officer’s police car. The plan is to release Daisy into a swamp, but with blood on her hands and evidence inside the alligator, Fran tries to shoot the animal instead. Charlie, who had clocked onto Fran's motives previously, intervenes, but it’s Daisy who physically takes Fran down in a moment of poetic justice.

The justice, however, ends there. The episode closes with the police choosing to cover up her involvement in Joe’s death. Horrified by her behaviour, Fran resigns and serves justice out with the animal rights group, where the cycle continues for the ‘Volunteer of the Month’ title at the sanctuary.

The Taste of Human Blood is gross, ridiculous, and oddly heartwarming. I'd watch Natasha Lyonne act opposite an alligator - real or not - any day of the week. It might not be the sharpest mystery the show has to offer, but it’s undoubtedly an entertaining one. For those not watching, you’re missing out.

Rating: ★★★½

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Poker Face. © Peacock

About Poker Face

Premiere Date: May 8, 2025

Episode Count: 12

Executive Producer/Showrunner: Tony Tost, Ram Bergman, Nena Rodrigue, Adam Arkin, Nora Zuckerman, Lilla Zuckerman

Writer: Laura Deeley, Alice Ju, Natasha Lyonne, Wyatt Cain, Tony Tost, Kate Thulin, Taofik Kolade, Megan Amram, Tea Ho, Raphie Cantor, Andrew Sodroski

Director: Rian Johnson, Natasha Lyonne, Miguel Arteta, Lucky McKee, John Dahl, Adam Arkin, Mimi Cave, Adamma Ebo, Clea Duvall, Ti West

Production: Animal Pictures, T-Street

Distribution: Peacock

Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Adrienne C. Moore, Alia Shawkat, Awkwafina, Ben Marshall, B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Corey Hawkins, Cynthia Erivo, David Alan Grier, David Krumholtz, Favionte "GaTa" Ganter, Ego Nwodim, Gaby Hoffmann, Geraldine Viswanathan, Giancarlo Espositio, Haley Joel Osment, Jason Ritter, John Cho, John Mulaneyy, Justin Theroux, Katherin Narducci, Katie Holmes, Kevin Corrigan, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Tom, Lili Taylor, Margo Martindale, Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Leggero, Patti Harrison, Rhea Perlman, Richard Kind, Sam Richardson, Sherry Cola, Simon Helberg, Simon Rex, Taylor Schilling

Synopsis: Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.